525,600 Minutes

It's been another great year. I am truly blessed.

I'm now the mom of a smart, friendly and happy kindergartener!

I turned 29 and had several fabulous celebrations including a family dinner in at a Hibachi and a dinner with friends in the city at Tria.

Birthday Nutella Panini.... yum!!

I've made it to a couple of concerts. I started off the year seeing Vs. the Earth on New Years Eve. I mingled with some friendly lesbians to see Sarah McLachlan and Sara Barielles at the Lilith Fair. And thankfully 2010 didn't pass me by without a chance to see the best band in the whole wide world: Counting Crows!

**Swoon**

I've been to a bunch of good plays including The Merry Wives of Windsor at the PA Shakespeare Festival and Wicked. This was also the first year the Isaac was old enough to appreciate the theater and we took him to several productions including Harold and the Purple Crayon in the city, The Emperor's New Clothes, and Frosty. He was also able to come with us to seee the traditional Christmas Panto at People's Light and Theater company instead of staying home with my dad like years past. "Grandpa and I are finally old enough!" he declared this year. It's so exciting to be able to share that with him now.

I had a great tan. I logged many, many hours by various pools and on the beach. I put some miles on my bike (though not as many as I should have).

I got a new phone when my old one died. Had a good laugh when the guy went to take the sim card out and a huge pile of beach sand fell out.

I successfully jump started a car without causing an explosion or electrocuting anyone.

I've been fortuneate enough to go on some wonderful family vacations.

There was our quick get away to Florida in the spring:

Our annual week at the Jersey Shore:

My sister got married!

So did one of my good friends from college Nicole: I went through a break up. I listened to a lot of Alanis. I moved on and went on more dates. I saw my old long-time college bf WJM in the flesh and didn't die. I've made some new friendships.

And rekindled some old ones.

I figured out how to use my sewing machine and did some crafting: I have one tooth less than this time last. Tooth 31 is now gone! I stopped eating red meat in July. I rejoined a gym, started (and subsequently quit, whoops) a running regimen. I got back into yoga. I discovered Zumba.

It's been a pretty great year. I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for me.

blah

My New Years Eve is looking pretty lackluster. It's always my weekend with Isaac. This year my parents have tickets to something so they are out as babysitters. Not that I have anything going on that I would potentially need a babysitter for. I even offered to babysit for one of my girlfriends so she could go out, but she ended up not needing me to. Not that I have ever had a truly epic New Years. Looking back at New Years last year, I think it was the beginning of the end for me and PDH. Which sounds more dramatic than it actually was. PDH drove me down to the Baltimore to see one of his favorite (local) bands who he claimed were all his closest friends at a big party in a fancy hotel. We got there on the early side and so we killed time walking around the inner harbor. It had snowed all that day and I was wearing little black flats from Target and black tights and before long all of the ice water had seeped inside my shoes and they were frozen and soaking wet. We ended up spending the first part of the party sitting in his car with my feet and shoes held up against the air vents in his car trying to dry everything out. We ran into the band before hand and they chit chatted for a few minutes-- long enough for me to ascertain that while there was no doubt that PDH was the band's number 1 most devoted fan, he had exaggerated quite a bit on the best friend's part. Anyways, the party was pretty amazing. Fancy food, several different dance floors with DJ's, stand up comedians and the band we had come to see. I wanted to dance, but PDH doesn't dance. Even when his favorite band came on he just stood there woodenly watching them leaning against a pillar in the back of the room. When midnight rolled around there were fireworks above the water and we got a good spot to watch them. It was my fanciest New Years by far and had the potential to be a really good time, had I been there with my girlfriends. However, it fell a little flat. Another year for New Years my friend had been out visiting me for a few days when he was home for holidays. We had no official ending time to his visit, but I ended up sending him on his way that afternoon. It ended up being snowy weather and he got into an accident on his way home and totally his parents SUV. I worked at least one New Year's when I worked at Melmark. I got done at 11:15 which is not nearly enough time to go anywhere before the ball drops. Lame. One time when I was still at Pitt, I drove back early before the semester started. Oakland was a ghost town and my one friend Colleen and I rang in the New Year at the only place we could find, this total dive bar in South Oakland with, like, three other people who were all wearing sombreros. I definitely rang in the new year at a church dance at least once. And apparently the rest of my New Year's celebrations have been so uneventful that they are actually unmemorable because I can't dredge up anything else. Or I'm just really old and losing my marbles, which is also totally possible. I am 29 after all. Anyone have any fun new years plans?

Book Review

The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance: A Memoir

I had this one on my wanting-to-read list since I saw a review of it in People Magazine and so I was excited when my mom gave me a copy for Christmas. It was refreshing to read an account of being a single Mormon girl in a big east coast city trying to navigate the minefields of dating, and LDS culture. Sure there are some books like that out there but this is the most true to life I've read to date. I guess because it hasn't been white washed and sanitized by Deseret Books. The picture she paints is accurate. I will totally vouch for that.

Here are a few excerpts from the beginning of the book:

Cue: this place. And by this place, I mean a lame dance held in a church gym..... Let's not forget tonight's DJ Brother Mo, who's wearing a polyester suit and tie with no trace of irony. He occupies the stage at the far end of the gym. To his left there's a long plastic table for refreshments: lemonade and cookies, as if we're a little league soccer team.

....If it weren't already painfully obvious, these events are organized to facilitate marriage. How else would we Manhattan Mormons meet, marry and then make more Mormons? (Take that, Sally and your seashells at the seashore). No one acknowledges this, though; that's another unspoken rule of the Mormon dance. We're all just here to "have fun". The effect is pretty horrifying. It's like watching a bunch of assembly line workers at a factory pretending they're there because they love screwing nuts on bolts. I want to should "Can't we just acknowledge that we are here eventually to screw a nut on a bolt?" But no one would get the joke, and the ones who do would be terribly offended.

However, this book may not be for everyone. I could see that more conservative members would be offended by certain parts (or even rallying for the author to be ex'd). She's very open about her faith, her doubts, and her sexuality. I was a little turned off by how much of the books focused on the importance of being physically attractive. And sometimes her naitivy (spelling?) was just annoying (she doesn't know porn is available on the internet? Come on, you only hear about porn at every single General Conference).

Overall, I give this book two thumbs up and would recommend it to my Mormon and non-Mormon single gal friends alike.

Life is like a box of chocolates...

So I finally ventured out of my house today and checked the mail for the first time since Thursday. (EDITED to clarify I have ventured out of my house since Thursday. But I haven't checked the mail). And found a key in my mailbox. Which means.............. I have a package. A cute little package. Shipped priority. From Maryland. And when I opened it, look what I saw: (Sorry if it is huge. I have resized like 4 times in photobucket but it still comes up humungo in blogger)

It was filled with Flake Bars a yummy candy bar I fell in love with when I was in London. They are really hard to find in the USA. Remember summer dating guy? ("I'm not ready for a relationship with anyone, oh wait, now I'm dating an undergrad" -- that guy). A specialty grocery store by his house has a spot for them in the international aisle but more often than not they are out of stock. He would look for me when he would go grocery shopping and if they happened to be in stock he has picked them up for me before.

Well anyways, he sent me a whole pile of them for Christmas. Not from the specialty grocery store. But from a website.

I was so thrilled.

That's a whole lot of Flake bars. A whole lot of crumbly, flaky chocolatey goodness.

And I was pretty surprised.

I mean, I didn't even send him a Christmas card.

Yummmm....

Christmas, Christmas Time is Here

Isaac woke us up at 7:30. We managed to get Joe out of bed and we started in on our stockings and then the presents. Isaac's big present was a bright red Wii from Joe. He recieved a lot of complimentary gifts relating to that (extra controller and nunchucks, several games) and we had fun trying some out. Jenny and Drew had me in the sibling gift exchange and they sent me Dance Dance Revolution and an extra controller. I'm extremely excited about this. Mom and Dad gave me a much needed food processor. I've been making lots of soups lately and I've been relying on a small food processor that only holds one cup. I can't wait to try it out. The kids all got my mom an accuquilt die cutter and she was really excited about it which was great. I wasn't entirely sure if she would like it or not.

Playing with the new Wii Tom showed up later in the morning.

Everyone got a kick out of reading Joe's new book "Here's the Situation: A Guide to Creeping on Chicks, Avoiding Grenades and Getting in Your GTL at the Jersey Shore".

Reading some new books from Jenny and Drew.

Isaac gave my dad a football for Christmas and he was so excited to get all the guys out and play. You can see Joe's new puppy Bailey who joined us this year running along too.

After much debate, they settled on playing touch instead of tackle football.

Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas." ~ Peg Bracken. Christmas! The very word brings joy to our hearts. No matter how we may dread the rush, the long Christmas lists for gifts and cards to be bought and given--when Christmas Day comes there is still the same warm feeling we had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes." ~ Joan Winmill Brown, American author and editor.

Good food was eaten. Naps were taken. My german chocolate cheesecake turned out amazingly. We talked to Drew and Jenny, Aunt Kathy and other loved ones who are far away on the phone. And I decided to crash at my parent's one more night. =)

In the words of my mom "Merry Christmas one and all!"

cool

Stumbled across this artwork by Janine Rewell. It's a real tan!

HA

it's my blog and I can rant if I want to

(Warning: church rant ahead, heavy with LDS terminology. Those of you of non-LDS background probably will wanna skip this one): I've been feeling very grumpy about church stuff lately. I'm getting tired of being the YSA rep mostly because accepting that calling obligates me to attend all of the YSA stuff, which is sort of a lot. Plus, I'm supposed to invite others and really encourage them to go and it's like, could I be any more of a hypocrite? It is pretty off-putting to be nearly 30 and still be obligated to go to chaperoned "activities" like I did when I was 13. Not to mention, the only other person who regularly comes to any of the activities is a guy is on the autism spectrum and is moderately impaired. I'm just going to come out and say it: I don't want to give up a Monday night to go play boardgames with someone who is, essentially, very annoying. I know this is cold and I'm probably going straight to hell, but.... sometimes I have it in me to be patient and inclusive and advocating for acceptance of people with differing abilities, and sometimes, I just don't. On the other hand, the YSA thing is about the only niche I have in my current ward. At least the people assigned to oversee the program and teach the YSA SS class actually know who I am and have taken a marginal interest in me and provide some kind of connection on sundays. Relief Society is a sea of power wheelchairs and walkers and the activities are all luncheons that are held on a weekday afternoons. With no nursery of course. And I know what you all are thinking! On the one hand I'm complaining that the ward doesn't acknowledge any other types of women beyond "ladies who lunch", but on the other hand, I'm asked to help build up a program for people who don't fit into a mold of a "typical LDS twenty-somthings" and I'm complaining about that too. I told you, I'm grumpy about church lately. Plus, I don't want to turn into someone who is a total flake about callings. And I was a total flake about the last one I had: Relief Society chorister which was a total nightmare. What I know about leading music can be written on the head of a pin. I gave it a few attempts but I would break out in a cold sweat when I had to stand up there in front of them. I just felt so clumsy and stupid. So I just started not coming to RS until after the opening hymn was done. After about a month of that I just finally told them it wasn't working out and I was happy to keep selecting the hymns, but I didn't want to conduct them. Since conducting hymns is pretty much the main part of being the chorister, they agreed to release me. I was also asked to speak in sacrament meeting after nearly two years of flying unnoticed under the radar. I was also feeling fairly grumpy about that, but the talk I am assigned to speak on is actually pretty decent, so I am warming up to the idea more. Anyways, church rant over.

e-harmony typo of the week

"I am passionate about life! I appreciate everything i have been given! Sometimes you take for granite the things you have!" That one made me laugh out loud.

before there was Airborne...

Haven't felt my best the past week or so. Coughing, scratchy tickling throat, just general sick feeling. I used to take Wellness Formula religiously during cold and flu season. It's got tons of good stuff like echinacea, goldenseal, zinc, garlic. I found some in my medicine cabinet and have been loading up on it. Hopefully it will help me get back in balance soon. Here's a link to a podcast that discusses it. I highly recommend it! http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/2009/11/wellness-formula/

Easy Christmas Craft

I meant to blog about this a while ago. I went to a Stamping Up demonstration a while back and made these candles. They are so cute and so easy! To make them you need:

• Tea lights
• Tissue paper
• A circle punch
• A small hole punch (like on the cropadile)
• Small stamps/markers. The ones I used of course were from Stampin Up.
• Embossing heat gun.

Cut your tissue paper into strips. Fold your strip over so it is four layers thick. This is important, otherwise you won't be able to punch anything out, the paper will be too thin.

Use your circle punch to punch out as many circles as you have for candles.

Use the cropadile to punch a hole in the center of each circle.

Stamp the design on each circle. You will see the tissue paper has a dull side and a shiny side. Stamp on the dull side.

Slide the wick through the hole of each circle.

Use the heat tool to melt the wax of the candle. The circles will look like they are disappearing into the candle leaving behind only the design.

You can burn these candles. They are supercute and easy! At the demonstration we made little paper boxes to put them in (you can see mine got a little crushed on the car ride home. I gave mine to my Secret Santa at work.

Old School

Found on my photobucket. A video we made for my sister while she was in Italy on her mission. Sorry, I don't know how to flip it.

too cold for interesting outfits

So I skipped WIWW last week. And it's been a challenge to get any pictures taken this week. It's cold. It's dark before I leave for work and it's dark when I come home. My winter clothes are boring and my work outfits are repetitive. I have been spending weekends in my pajamas. It's always fun to participate though, so here is what little I do have from the past few weeks. As usual, I don't claim to have particularly interesting outfits. I know a lot of my blog buddies are style mavens. Link up one of these days! Running around... Jeans/Sweater - Old Navy Church Party/Out With Friends This outfit was supposed to be based around some cute new earrings my sister gave me for my birthday. But I ended up losing one before I went out and couldn't find it anywhere, so I had to change them out. (Don't worry Jen, I found the other earring eventually). Sweater - Target Tanks - Old Navy (red) H and M (white) Jeans - Target Shoes - Nine West via Ross Purse - Dress Barn

Sunday/Church Sheath dress - TJMaxx Sweater - Old Navy (I think) Belt - came with the dress Necklace - Target Earrings - Old Navy Shoes - Steve Madden (rescued from my mom's giveaway pile!!) Shoes - Converse Jeans - GAP Shirt/Scarf/earrings - Old Navy Sunglasses - Target

stick a fork in me, I'm done

"I had this guy leave me a voice mail at work so I called him at home and then he e-mailed me to my Blackberry and so I texted to his cell and then he e-mailed me to my home account and the whole thing just got out of control... Now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It's exhausting."

-- Mary He's Just Not That Into You

My favorite Christmas song. Enjoy! I'm blogging, because I'm procrastinating doing other boring things that need done. Like vacuuming. And cat boxes. And mopping. I went to the gym today though, and sometimes when I work out in the morning, I feel like that gives me a free pass to be a lazy ass the rest of the day. I was not feeling the workout, but I made myself go over, because, I mean, it's a wide open Saturday and Isaac is at his dad's. How I can I possibly NOT go? As always, convincing myself to go is pretty much the whole battle because once I get there I feel great and when I leave I wonder why I don't make myself go more often. So anyways, I'm on the treadmill and I'm running and in the zone with Pitbull blasting through my ipod and I was actually covering a decent amount of ground considering I haven't been working out regularly since August when this guy from the gym approaches me. I pop out one of my earbuds, thinking that maybe the treadmill is making, like a horrible noise that I am unaware and he is coming over to tell me. But noooooo, he's coming over to try to pitch his personal training session to me. That is one thing I hate about this gym. They are so aggressive in pushing their training packages on you. But I've never been approached mid-run with headphones in and I was livid and lit into the guy about how I come to work out in peace and not be harassed. It was ridiculous. I get mildly annoyed when they approach me on the way in or out of class, but it is to be expected. But don't come over to me and interrupt my workout. Too much. Anyways... Last night was payday Friday and i did a little shopping and then PDH came over and we watched a movie (I know, I know, I know). It was a mediocre time at best. I keep forgetting that we had very little in common when we were dating, and now we have even less in common. We really don't have very much to say to each other beyond idle chit chat which is just dumb and pointless. We wanted to go to the movies, but nothing playing looked interesting. So then we decided to rent a video. We rented Date Night (which was cute!). He was texting back and forth with a girl "friend" the whole time which he wouldn't share any details about, but he did say it was someone he loaned all of his Big Bang Theory DVD's to, which is what he did when we first started dating. Not that I was jealous. Honestly. I don't want to get back with him. It just further emphasized what a stupid idea it is to keep hanging around with him and how we are both moved on and uninvested in each other and made me so annoyed with myself that I have this fear of being alone in my house all weekend to the point that I am sitting there next to someone who is texting someone else all night. It's ridiculous. My DVD player died part way through the movie (it's been on it's last legs for about a year now but it finally gave up the ghost), so we had to finish the movie on the computer balancing my laptop awkwardly between us. After the movie was over he ended up getting kind of sick and then the last straw was as he was leaving he purposely kicked my cat. I pretty much slammed the door behind him. I think I put too much pressure on myself to have big plans on the weekends Isaac is away, and as a result I end up in situations like that. I wish I could be more comfortable being alone. In about three months or so when I begin to think back fondly on our good times together, someone please redirect me to this blog post.

Speaking of old habits that die hard, Isaac's dad just texted me but I did NOT give him the satisfaction of engaging. We always have the same old fight over him taking Isaac back to Africa (where he is from). It's a moot point really because he has no money or actual plans to go back to Africa anytime soon but it is something we feel very strongly about. I resisted the urge to tell him the only time Isaac will be going to Africa before the age of fifteen will be if I am cold and dead in my grave and simply said "If you wish to discuss this please call me". He won't. He hates talking on the phone, especially when he knows I am mad. But come on, I refuse to have an argument serious conversation over text. Get real.

Let's see. What else? Oh, Monday I took a sick day and finally had good old tooth 31 extracted. The one that has been causing me so much pain since the summertime. I woke up, got Isaac off to school, sat down and ate breakfast and then put my bowl in the sink before I remembered: I wasn't supposed to eat or drink anything in preparation for the anesthesia. Which is just so classic me, isn't it? I freaked out, because I had taken the day off of work, and mom had driven in from the Lanc to be my driver, etc. We went over and they gave me the choice of doing it awake or coming back later in the day. I chose to come back later in the day. I was grateful I could still have the procedure done that day and with no troubles. They gave me a script for Vicodin but I didn't even have to take any OTC drugs. I was in no pain at all. I wish I hadn't put it off for so long. Anyways, I'm glad that's pretty much done. I hope it's okay to leave a big gaping hole there for a while, because I am pretty much tapped out in the "unexpected medical expense" column of my budget.

I was reading Cosmo in bed this morning and there was this whole article about how I am already more than halfway through my peak biological time for having babies. Cosmo, I hate you: I count on you for fluffy mindless drivel and now I can't stop thinking about how by the time I will probably have another kid my eggs will be all old and shriveled up and useless. Thanks a lot.

Christmas cards and gifts are starting to trickle in, which I love! I mailed a big pile of our cards and I will be addressing the rest before the weekend is out. My own shopping is pretty well underway, but I haven't done any wrapping yet.

Anyways, I guess I should log off and go do something. Enjoy your weekend!

Time for another round of Online Profile DON'Ts, taken from actual profiles. Gotta love e-harmony.

• I am passionate about: puzzles. Hey, if that's your passion, I guess I shouldn't judge. I just can't imagine getting passionate about puzzles.
• I typically spend my leisure time: reading, going to 12 step meetings, playing frisby golf. Way to subtly work that in. I dunno, I feel like that is something you should reveal once you get to know a person. Yikes.

• I typically spend my leisure time: cosplaying.... AHHHHHHHHHH
• Things I can't live without are: Sports, Music, Chicken, Phone, Car Chicken? Seriously? You can't live without CHICKEN?! That just seems so random and bizarre.

• DON'T put in your online profile that you have never dated anyone ever before. That's just terrifying and doesn't make anyone want to click on your profile.

• DON'T post this as your picture. It's small but I think you can see that on each of the lenses of his glasses is the reflection of his laptop screen. That's the BEST picture you have to put up??

“Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow.” - Mary Anne Radmacher

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain.

-- Emily Dickinson

This has been a super productive weekend. My brother Joe asked me if he could pick Isaac up from school which was fine with me. When I came home he was doing my dishes and entertaining Isaac. What a welcome! We ended up getting in my car to head to Lowe's to pick up a few more strands of lights. When we were there we saw they had decent sized Christmas trees for only 19 bucks so we decided to get one too. We had taken my car instead of Joe's truck, but we managed to cram it in the trunk and then just drive along really slowly with the trunk door bouncing up and down. Fortunately, I live pretty close to Lowe's and we made it with no trouble. Joe put up the Isaac lights along my garage and above the front door. It looks great. He also helped me get the tree on the stand and put the lights on it. I will try to post some pictures soon. Isaac and I decorated it today and so far so good with the cats. They like to sleep underneath it on the soft velvety tree skirt but no attempts to climb it or take the ornaments off so far this year. I just have to figure out how to set timers on everything and then I'm set. Today we slept in (sort of, Isaac is never one for staying in bed for long) and lazed around for a while. We ran some errands, I met up with my mom for a bit and went to a Party-Lite party hosted by a coworker while I dropped Isaac to be babysat by my fabulous single mom pal. When I came to pick him up she had made me my very own pie pan full of fruit crisp. It is amazing and I have already eaten quite a bit of it. Once we were home we settled in and watched movies all day long while trimming the tree, cleaning, organizing, catching up on laundry, addressing Christmas cards, etc. I also finished about ten of these: My mom and I working on them together as an easy Christmas gift for all of the teachers, day care people, etc. who we want to remember for the holidays. I'm still debating putting Christmas fabric on the tops, but I feel like it might push it too far into the holly hobby relief society craft day look that I try to avoid. My house is still not entirely in order but it is getting there and I did cross off some household chores/projects that I have been putting off for a while. It feels good! On the dating front, I didn't blog about it much, but I dated a guy this summer. I wasn't sure where it would go, but it didn't end up lasting past the back-to-school/wedding fiasco that was late August. He said he just wasn't ready for a relationship with anyone (You know how it goes. Say it with me now : "it's not you, it's me, for real", [except he would never say for real]). Anyways, I confirmed, via internet stalking of course, that he is now "in a relationship" with a 20 year old undergrad of a local college. I'm not going to lie, it stung a little, but I supposed it's for the best. He never came out and said it ever, but I'm a girl with a bit of intimidating baggage who is looking to settle down, which I get is a lot to handle. If he isn't ready for that, then perhaps an adoring college coed in a completely opposite point in her life would be a better fit. At 29, I can't imagine dating someone who was still in middle school when I was graduating college who couldn't even go to a 21 and up concert with me, but hey, whatever floats your boat. In other news, we are having interesting discussions about Santa around here. I am fully preparing to be flamed but.....

I never told Isaac there was a real Santa or encouraged him to believe.

I still remember how betrayed I felt when I found out as a kid. When I thought about pushing Santa on Isaac, it just felt like lying. Sorry if that makes me the grinch but I can't tell my kid with a straight face that a man in a flying sleigh somehow made his way into our chimney-less house and filled his stocking. Anyways, we have talked about how Santa is a Christmas tradition and how some kids believe and other kids don't and that's okay. He has always been fine with that. Until this year, when he has taken it upon himself to adamantly believe despite what I say. When we were hanging up our stockings he wanted his to be closer to the door so Santa would fill it first. I reminded him that it is isn't Santa who fills the stockings, but he said "just in case.". Okay, I also reminded him that we would not even be home on Christmas Eve, that we took our stocking with us when we sleep over at grandma's. He has informed me several times since then that there is a Santa because all of the kids at school say there is and since I don't believe I will get no presents. I'm just leaving it alone for now. It is innocent and sweet and I don't want to entirely deprive him of suddenly wants to believe in so badly, even if it is a bit off putting to me.

Anyways, that's all for now. Enjoy your weekend.

Uhhh....

Isaac (after barging in on me in the bathroom): Mom, what are you doing? Me: I'm shaving my legs. Isaac: Ooooh, so women shave their legs and men shave their backs?

Everything but the kitchen sink

Thanksgiving was lowkey and relaxing. Isaac and I went to my parents and my one brother joined us. I got two random "Happy Thanksgiving!" texts from phone numbers I didn't recognize. Wasn't sure what to do with that. Isaac had his heart set on playing football but it was very cold and rainy so we had to settle for indoor activities. Dinner was delicious. We played some gin rummy and then we sacked out on the couch for a while wasting away in front of the TV. My dad and I watched the Zumba infomercial for like 20 minutes. I think he secretly wants to do it. Which he totally should. It's so fun!We drove home around eight and Isaac was snoring within minutes of pulling away. He woke up when he got home long enough to ask for some dessert and to declare "I wish we could live at Grandma's forever!"

Black Friday I went out in the city with some girlfriends, which was supposed to be a late birthday celebration for me. (Oh yeah, my birthday was the 17th, but I have been celebrating for pretty much the whole month of November. 29 is great so far). We went to Tria and I had my favorite thing on their menu (after dinner, of course): Nutella Panini. If I had to only choose one food to eat for the rest of my life, it would be Nutella Panini. I was about halfway done with it when the waitress came over, and stuck a candle in the remnant of my sandwich, which was cute.

Most of the talk that evening centered around my one girlfriend who has recently gotten very serious with the guy she is dating. They are talking marriage and she is about to buy a house and officially move in with him (she's not LDS, fyi).... AND his twin ten year olds. Although she adores the two kids (a boy and a girl) she shared some of the issues they are encountering as she essentially takes on the role of step mom in a household where the kids are pretty much running the show. I mostly sided with her (ten year olds with ten thirty bedtimes? I don't think so). I found myself biting my lip on some topics though. There are some things about having kids that you just don't understand if you don't have kids yourself (example-- she was repulsed by the fact that he let his son sleep in his bed all day when he was home from school sick. It made total sense to me. Isaac often sleeps in my bed when he is not feeling well too. I think it's comfort thing).

It was interesting to imagine being in that situation though. I would certainly want my partner to feel comfortable dealing with (minor-type) discipline issues and I recognize how important that would be in a blended family or step parent situation. But if I had to be totally honest, I think I think a little part of me would balk a little bit. Even now I feel defensive if one of my brothers disciplines Isaac. It would be a hard thing. I am interested to see how it all plays out for her.

Anyways, before dinner we also oogled clothes and household items we can't really afford went shopping at Anthropologie. My friend briefly contemplated an 18 dollar hot pad. I told her I could make her one FOR FREE and she agreed. I went home and made these in about an hour with some scraps I had from other fall projects. If you remember, I have LOTS of heat resistant batting from another potholder project, so everything was ready to roll.

I also decided to make a matching hot mitt. I didn't take a picture of it, but it turned out pretty cute. The potholders I just sort of did myself but the oven mitt I followed this tutorial.

It was very clear and should have been easy to follow, but it my eagerness to finish, I would forge ahead after only skimming and then discover I had made a mistake and then would have to go back and start over. Totally reminded me of that saying "haste makes waste". I gave them to her today and she could not believe I made them myself. I think she really liked them. Maybe there is a hope for this undomestic goddess after all. Saturday my friends (a girl I work with and her husband) invited me over for dinner and a game night. Backstory: In October they had taken me and another friend to a Halloween party where I briefly met another one of their friends. I will refer to him as FOF (Friend of a Friend). Afterwards apparently FOF got in touch with my coworker and asked about me. So anyways, when she invited me over Saturday she said she was having some people over and that FOF would be there. Okay, whatever. Of course, I show up and it is just FOF. No other people. HELLO awkward setup. We drove to Chile's and there was this moment of hesitation as we approached the booth. She even joked about should I sit with her or with FOF? I ended up sitting with FOF. And he ordered the exact same thing as me: chicken club tacos without the bacon. He was a nice enough guy, he really was. And our evening was enjoyable. Dinner was good and we played all kinds of fun games. However, to my friends' dismay, FOF is not the guy for me. I hope this doesn't sound snotty, but I will explain why.

• Strike one: over dinner passionately talked about his love of black metal music for about 20 minutes and various experiences seeing bands with names like Dying Fetus in concert.
• Strike two: at some point it came out that although he is no longer collecting unemployment while working at Gamestop, he still lives in his grandmother's attic. Seriously? SERIOUSLY?! I don't want to sound like it's all about money or anything like that, but by mid thirties you had better be in your own place paying the bills.
• Strike three: Okay, this is the one that I feel really mean revealing. But here goes: We were playing Scattergories and he hardly ever came up with anything for any category, any round. I mean, "name something in the room that starts with c"? "name a four letter word that starts with a"? Nothing... It was a little alarming. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but then we moved onto Uno. He had no frame of reference for the game Uno, which I just found to be frankly, odd. After we explained the game and started playing he still couldn't get the concept and was just throwing out cards randomly. We would have to stop and explain it to him again. I mean, really, the premise of the game is just matching colors and numbers. I will let you draw your own conclusions to avoid spelling out what I feel is too mean to outright say.

So anyways, it was an enjoyable night, but I don't see much of a future with FOF. It has been quite a while since I was blindsided with an unexpected set up though, so I give them props for that.

We've started decorating the house for Christmas. I dug out the huge two tubs of Christmas stuff but I haven't unloaded them all the way yet. One is pretty much all Christmas ornaments and I'm still not sure what to do about a Christmas tree. Last year my brother loaned me a tiny fake one. It was supposed to be three feet tall but it was actually more like eighteen inches. The cats had a field day with it, knocking it over and batting the ornaments all over the house. I want a real one this year, but only if the cats can behave. Anyone have any tips for cat-proofing the tree? My brother is supposed to make an appearance this week to help us put some lights up outside, so I'm looking forward to that.

Tomorrow is back to school officially, although I was in for several hours today. I felt unprepared to start the week, and it was a good thing I went in. The more I started to do, the more I discovered needed to be done. (Hello IEP meeting after school tomorrow. Didn't remember you were there!) I have been feeling a ton of anxiety about the month of December. It's such a crazy time at school, with so many things that need to be crammed in before break. There is also so much going on outside of work: parties, get togethers, plays, family commitments, stores, crowds, things to be bought, wrapped, mailed and of course money stretched thin. All of it good stuff but it is a little overwhelming to coordinate it all.

Anyways, I should go. Feel free to leave comments and have a lovely week!

I highly recommend...

....having a brother who is a mechanic and maintains and fixes your car under the table and on his own time on the cheap (even if you do have to endure a semi-annual lecture about how hard you are on brakes). ...having a sister who is an awesome nurse and who fields countless phone calls when you have convinced yourself you have some kind of life threatening disease.

....having a brother in law who teaches your son to ride a two wheeler with no training wheels by running up and down the streets of Ocean City on a rainy day. .... having a brother who is handy with household repairs (and painting) (and putting up Christmas lights) (and hanging artwork and picture frames). My siblings are all so talented and hardworking and I am blessed that they are so willing to share their talents to help me.

I pretty much have the best siblings ever.

(aww.. I'm warm and fuzzy all over now... doesn't this post just make you want to go out and buy a baby bunny?)

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

So we got out some of our Christmas decorations this weekend. Isaac loved this Santa potholder and ran off to find it a suitable spot. I had to chuckle later on when I discovered it precariously positioned on this (very frequently used) light switch.

WIWW is back!

Ugh. Hideous quality camera phone shots again this week. My apologies.

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy. Saturday/Shopping and Holiday Prep in Lancaster These ones were taken in my parent's hideous upstairs bathroom. The house they bought a little more than a year ago had the ugliest decor you had ever seen. They have been working a lot to repaint, recarpet, etc. They haven't touched this bathroom yet. Yes, that's pink CARPET on the floor.

Jeans/Socks/Belt - GAP Sweater/Earrings/Shoes - Target Tank - Old Navy Pin - made by me

Sunday/Church

Back to my bathroom. Bright pink carpet in a bathroom may be wrong, but bright pink walls in a bathroom? Now that's classy!

Didn't get a full length shot of the dress. It's about knee length. That's an advantage to doing WIWW. I was about to reach for one of my (cute but) tried and true fall/winter church dresses. Then I remembered I had already photographed that one, so I thought I better choose something else. This dress was a summer wardrobe MVP and it was nice to bust it out again for fall. Dress: Converse (Target) Shirt: Kohl's Necklace: Target T-Strap Mary Janes: Ross from ages ago. Couldn't find a brand name on them anywhere. Bracelet: birthday present from my sister! Isn't it so cute?! It is from the Vera Wang line for Kohl's. I covet almost every piece from that line. The top of it is all those silvery discs and charms and the bottom is just a thick piece of black elastic.

Tuesday/Work (parent performance)

I decided to dress up because we were having parents in for our first grade performance. Although I will often wear skirts to work, I rarely will wear heels. Now I remember why. One of my students had a really rough morning and I ended up rolling around on the ground for three hours with him (I do autistic support and some of my students need a lot of behavior support). I didn't even make it to the parent performance. Murphy's law I guess. Skirt - H and M (actually part of a suit).

Sweater - Old Navy

Boots - no clue

Wednesday (work)

Shirt - Kohl's

Cords - Old Navy

Purple flats - Target

Necklace and charm bracelet - gifts from my mom

Have a lovely Thanksgiving all!